14 in indigenous languages, pointing out their places of residence, their nomadic circuits through the land, 55 and the culturally significant places, insisting on the need to grant a single, unparcelled territory. . 55. After a few months of study of the proposal by the Government, on December 5, 1991, an Agreement (Acta de Acuerdo) was signed between the representatives of the indigenous communities and the General Director of Fiscal Lands Adjudications of the Province of Salta. This Agreement was ratified in its entirety by a Decree issued by the Governor of the Province of Salta, Decree No. 2609 of 1991. The text of this Decree, into which the text of the Agreement was incorporated, is the following: “Decree No. 2609/91 – Agreement between creoles and aboriginals. Ministry of Economy. HAVING SEEN the Agreement suscribed by the General Direction of Fiscal Lands Adjudications with the members of the Wichí (mataco), Iyojwaja (chorote), Niwackle (chulupi), Komlek (toba), Capy’y (Tapiete) aboriginal communities that inhabit the territory of Fiscal Lots 55 and 14, on December 5, 1991, at the locality of San Luis – Department of rivadavia, in the framework of Laws 6469, 6570, 6373 and Decrees 845/90 and 1467/90; and, CONSIDERING: That it is urgent and necessary to adopt sufficient measures to preserve the aptness of the lands and the integrity of the natural resources of Fiscal Lots 55 and 14 until the full completion of all of the actions appurtenant to their regularization in the terms of Laws 6570 and 6469; That the social and ecological reality of Fiscal Lots 55 and 14 makes it necessary to consider both as a single territory and with a common destination, so that it is possible to adjudicate aboriginal communities and each creole family with the necessary space for their survival, development and welfare; That it is possible to attend the aboriginal communities’ desire to have a single surface without internal subdivisions through a single title to property and with a size that is sufficient to develop their traditional ways of life, the fundamental features of which are described in the study submitted by the communities themselves on July 28, 1991; That the terms of the agreement represent a significant advance in the joint pursuit of solutions that can allow for the implementation of Laws 6469 and 6570 in a framework of justice and tranquility for the aboriginal communities and creole families that inhabit the region; Therefore, the Governor of the Province of Salta DECREES: 55 Aboriginal Community of Fiscal Lot 55 – Request for title to property of the land. Cited in the initial petition, received by the IACHR on August 4, 1998, and transmitted to the State on January 26, 1999. The document with the request, in which the demand for recognition is justified with a description of its historical, anthropological and legal background, is headed with the following request: “OUR DEMAND. We, the members of the aboriginal community of Fiscal Lot 55, ask the Government for the title to property of our land. We know that, according to the law, we have a right to the title because it is the land of our ancestors, who lived here many centuries before the first creoles arrived from the South, in 1902-1903. // Our democratic Government has to recognize the historical right that we have to the land. We are the natives of Argentina. // We are the legitimate owners of the land, but we see that the creoles want to deprive us of our land. The creoles have already pushed us too far away, and we demand justice. We ask the Government to return our lands, out of respect for our history and our humanity. // Our descendants are increasing. We demand the title to property so that our children and grandchildren can live and grow up in peace in the land of their grandparents. In addition, we want our land to grow again, in the best possible way. // The provision of the lands that we need must be communal, and in an extension large enough to allow for the development of our life and that of our descendants. Fiscal Lot 55 is in fact insufficient for our needs. Those of us who live near the limit, always have to go to Fiscal Lot 14. // The land that we occupy, the title to property of which we demand from the Government, includes the entire Fiscal Lot 55, plus some hectares of adjacent part of Fiscal Lot 14. // Under no circumstance shall we accept subdivisions or parcels, because we live as one single community with nature. We are cultivators, fishermen, hunters, gatherers and artisans. We need a large space, not only to cultivate the land, but also to extract from the forest both our food, fruits, honey and wild animals, and the plant elements that we use for crafts and for our domestic use. // All of us, the 4500 aboriginal inhabitants of Fiscal Lot 55, are united. As we say about our request for land: ‘When one cicada sings, all of the cicadas make a choir’. As a single community we demand from our Government a single communal title for all of the land that we need.” [Joint Declaration, cited in: CARRASCO, Morita and BRIONES, Claudia: “La Tierra que nos quitaron”. Documento IWGIA No. 18, Buenos Aires, 1996, p. 204-205. Document provided as an annex to the petitioners’ observations on the merits, received by the IACHR on January 4, 2007, and transmitted to the State through note of January 12, 2007.]